


The Strings That Bind

by dreaminginside



Category: Topp Dogg (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Getting Together, Growing Up Together, M/M, all that good stuff, babies in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:25:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2274876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaminginside/pseuds/dreaminginside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sehyuk confesses every day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Strings That Bind

**Author's Note:**

> I'M BACK I'M BACK ON THE THRONE HERE TO SPREAD 2DRAG

Sehyuk confesses every day.

When they are young, he puts together a long string and two cans so that he can talk to Sangdo long after their mothers herd them inside and the sun has set. Sangdo’s look of puzzlement when Sehyuk tosses him the can puts a grin on his face, laughing slightly as Sangdo holds the aluminum in his small hands, squints, and looks at him like Sehyuk is slightly more off kilter than usual.

Sehyuk spends a lot of time in his youth convincing Sangdo of bad ideas, but Sangdo doesn’t really mind. He makes his mind up very early that he’s going to be the one responsible for keeping Sehyuk out of too much trouble, from the moment the older boy grabs his hand and tugs him into his backyard to play.

The distance between their windows is small enough that the small phone system really isn’t necessary, but they use it anyway, Sangdo only rolling his eyes slightly when Sehyuk picks up his and shakes the line for Sangdo to do the same. Sehyuk leans dangerously far out his window so that the string will still reach, and Sangdo can see his feet dug against the end of his bed to keep him steady. 

He’s sure that he’s going to fall out one of these days, but Sangdo thinks that Sehyuk’s mother knows him well enough to blame Sehyuk for everything regardless.

“What?” Sangdo stage whispers into his can, putting it up to his ear as Sehyuk moves his to reply in turn. Sangdo hopes that Sehyuk isn’t determined to keep him up late tonight, it’s already past his bedtime and he’s sure his mother will know that he and Sehyuk are still up once the other boy forgets himself and starts yelling. 

Sehyuk doesn’t say anything for a long minute, wobbling slightly as he tries to retain his balance over the sill and Sangdo leans out a bit in turn to help, wondering if it’s going to be him that ends up falling down instead. His brows furrow for a moment when he thinks he might be a little bit too accommodating to Sehyuk, but he brushes the thought away because Sehyuk is fun and Sehyuk is nice and Sehyuk is his friend.

Sehyuk doesn’t seem to intend to do anything but smile into his end of their communication system, and so Sangdo sighs slightly and moves his back to his mouth, about to ask Sehyuk if he’s ever going to say something or can Sangdo just go to bed when Sehyuk shakes the can furiously for Sangdo to hold his back up. 

“I can hear you fine just talking,” Sangdo mumbles under his breath, and Sehyuk just grins harder, a small laugh escaping while Sangdo holds his can to his ear patiently and waits for Sehyuk to stop wheezing long enough to tell him whatever idea it is that has struck him.

“I like you,” Sehyuk whispers across the line, and Sangdo can’t help but laugh a little, dropping the can by mistake and watching Sehyuk scramble to catch the line before it all falls to the ground. Sangdo just grins at Sehyuk, and can’t help but think that he’s a bit silly, shaking his head when Sehyuk frowns at him from his window, nose scrunched up as he goes to close it. Sangdo has to raise his voice for Sehyuk to hear it through his closed window, but he knows Sehyuk does because he can see the smile on his face, even as he hears his mother yelling at him from downstairs to go to sleep.

“I like you too.”

...

They’re in middle school when Sangdo’s prediction finally comes true.

They’ve long abandoned the cans, but Sehyuk still finds some kind of joy in yelling at Sangdo through their windows. Sangdo mostly entertains him despite the cellphone sitting right next to him, leaning his arm on the sill and watching Sehyuk waves his arms around and speak what’s on his mind after the sun has set.

Sehyuk is trying very hard to prove some point about the eighth grade math classes versus Sangdo’s lower grade when he loses his balance and topples out the window. Sangdo’s eyes are wide and frozen for a moment, eyes stuck on Sehyuk curled up on the ground below before he runs down for his mother. He thinks he gets the point out between the crying and the blubbering, and one hospital trip later has Sehyuk’s arm in a cast and he is firmly grounded.

“I can’t believe you cried,” Sehyuk smiles later, the two of them sitting against the headboard of his bed, bumping his sling free shoulder against Sangdo’s and prodding at Sangdo’s hands until he’ll look at him, eyes still slightly puffy. Sangdo huffs a bit because it isn’t as if Sehyuk is in much better shape, having been practically wailing the entire way. “You really do care.”

“Of course I do,” Sangdo grumbles, letting Sehyuk poke at his fingers with his uninjured had, keeping his eyes focused on the way Sehyuk pulls on his fingers so he won’t have to look the older boy in the eyes. It’s easier to watch Sehyuk poke at his joints than to think about him on the ground again. “It was scary seeing you laying down there, I _told_ you to be careful.”

Sehyuk frowns and pulls away from Sangdo’s hand for a moment to rummage around his nightstand, wincing only slightly when he jars the sling. He waves off Sangdo’s hands when he tries to help and simply makes a small sound in the back of his throat when he finds what he was looking for, shoving the black marker into Sangdo’s lap. Sangdo looks at it briefly before meeting Sehyuk’s grin, sighs as he leans over Sehyuk’s lap to reach for the cast.

“You can be the first to sign it, see,” Sehyuk says, puffing his chest out a bit at the brilliant idea. Sangdo rolls his eyes a little but he still smiles, signing his name in big letters over Sehyuk’s injured arm. He throws in a few concentrated hearts for good measure, smiling a bit more when Sehyuk’s free hand runs absentmindedly through his hair. There’s always a certain gentleness there when Sehyuk touches him, and Sangdo likes it. “Now we’re even.”

Sehyuk smiles when he cranes his neck to see Sangdo’s drawings stand out against the white plaster, humming contentedly when Sangdo lets himself fall back on the spot, slightly sprawled over Sehyuk’s legs. He’s not sure if being grounded means he isn’t allowed to have sleepovers, but he’s sure there must be some kind of exception, this is _Sangdo_ after all.

“You’re lucky I like you too much to hold a grudge for this emotional trauma,” Sangdo grumbles out, still laid across Sehyuk’s lap, closing his eyes when Sehyuk’s free hand tangles back in his hair.

He scrunches his nose up a bit more when he thinks that he really means it.

Sehyuk gets his cast off after a month, and while there are other signatures littered around, Sangdo’s remains the largest. Sehyuk grins when Sangdo takes to examining his bare arm, poking at it lightly, tracing his name where it used to be raised above the healing skin. 

“Are you going to cry again?” Sehyuk teases and Sangdo just sighs like he’s too used to the things Sehyuk will say at this point, this time lightly shoving the arm away and ignoring Sehyuk’s wince of _hey that’s still sore watch it_. They’ve settled into their usual positions on Sehyuk’s bed, but Sangdo swings his legs off under the guise of rolling off before Sehyuk grabs his arm and fixes him with a pleading look. 

“Only if you do first,” Sangdo mumbles, but doesn’t make a move to go any further, letting Sehyuk link their pinkies and pull him back over. Sehyuk just smiles and raises Sangdo's wrist, pressing a wet kiss to the back of Sangdo’s hand because he knows it will make him blush and Sangdo is always cutest when he’s flustered. Sehyuk doesn’t think about it too much, but he knows he likes Sangdo. “You’re so dumb.”

“But you like me.”

...

Feelings, Sehyuk thinks, are much harder to deal with than the movies make them out to be.

He knows he likes Sangdo, and that Sangdo likes him, but there is some very frustrating abyss that sits between friends and something else that he is very unsure of how to cross. It reminds him of the distance between their houses that he once came crashing down through, and he thinks that he is going to have to make this jump in much the same way.

He’s tried every way of wordless confession that he knows before he’s almost willing to take another fall out of the window, Sangdo often giving him a strange kind of pleased smile in response, but not much more. 

Sangdo is seventeen when Sehyuk finally gives up and kisses him one day when they’re sitting in his backyard, summer sun making it slightly hot and awkward when they stay pressed close. They’re too close as is, Sangdo mumbling something about how the sweat on their arms is beginning to get uncomfortable when Sehyuk leans just a bit closer, tilts his head up just enough to press his lips against Sangdo’s.

Sangdo has just gotten his braces off, making things slightly less awkward than they could have been, but Sehyuk still moves too stiff, pushing forward a bit while Sangdo is still and their teeth knock together a bit uncomfortably before he pulls back. He wonders when it was that Sangdo got so much taller than him, suddenly the few inches of looking up seeming much more like meters as he looks down at his shoes nervously. Sangdo blinks for a moment before a large smile takes over his face, tugging lightly at Sehyuk’s bangs so he’ll look at him.

“I was wondering if you were ever going to do that,” He mumbles, holding Sehyuk’s cheeks in his hands while he still smiles, rubbing his thumbs over Sehyuk’s cheeks before pressing their foreheads together. Sehyuk muses to himself that nothing really feels changed, and he thinks that it’s possible they’ve always just been like this. 

“Well one of us had to, evidently,” Sehyuk can’t help but grumble before tipping his face forward again, kissing Sangdo softly and resting his hands on Sangdo’s thighs, fingers digging in as he presses himself as close as he can. Sangdo doesn’t mind the heat as much anymore, finding that he prefers the heat of Sehyuk’s mouth on his anyway, pressing back just a bit harder, humming when Sehyuk nips at his bottom lip before pulling away.

“I was waiting for you to figure it out,” Sangdo murmurs, slightly breathless laughter escaping his lips as Sehyuk kisses him once more quickly before laying himself down on Sangdo’s lap, still trying to get used to the fact that the ability to hold Sangdo’s face so close now exists. “You confess to me all the time, Sehyuk, there’s no way that I couldn’t know.”

“But yes, I like you too.”

Sehyuk just rolls his eyes and thinks that Sangdo needs to do less talking and more acting on things if he thinks Sehyuk is being too slow for his liking, but he doesn’t say it now. Instead he pulls on the collar of Sangdo’s shirt, until Sangdo is bent down far enough that he can whisper right against his lips before kissing him again.

“Shut up.”

...

_epilogue_

Moving in together is a lot like chaos.

It’s mostly the process of moving everything from Sangdo’s dorm into Sehyuk’s apartment, but Sehyuk really is puzzled as to how much stuff could have fitted inside of a dorm in the first place. Sangdo shrugs a bit bashfully when Sehyuk asks how he managed it the first time exactly, but simply carries on helping Sehyuk move his boxes up the stairs with few other words.

Sehyuk is mostly relieved that he doesn’t have to try and sneak around dorm curfews anymore, but there is something incredibly exciting about moving in together. Sangdo mostly rolls his eyes at Sehyuk but Sehyuk can see that he’s happy too, prodding at him to hurry up already so they can order some kind of housewarming takeout.

“You sure you didn’t hurt your back? You are getting up in years,” Sangdo murmurs teasingly later when Sehyuk is laid flat on out his bed, _their_ bed he corrects in his head. Sehyuk just grumbles and lets Sangdo do as he pleases, trying to keep in the small sigh when Sangdo slips his hand up the back of his shirt, running his knuckles over the bumps of Sehyuk’s spine.

Sehyuk doesn’t say anything and Sangdo just laughs, rolling on his side next to Sehyuk and pressing himself up against his back, kissing behind Sehyuk’s ear lightly and grinning slightly when Sehyuk maneuvers his arm out from under himself enough to wrap around Sangdo’s waist. 

“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, all of anything is appreciated!


End file.
